E-Commerce Firms May Get To Sell Non-Essential Goods

In the latest statement by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), the restriction on the e-commerce companies to sell only essential goods may be lifted from April 20. This shall be done making sure of all preparatory arrangements with regards to social distancing in offices, workplaces, factories, and establishments. 

The latest development is made given the need to mitigate hardship to the public. Earlier, MHA has specified that e-commerce would only be allowed to sell essential goods, which include: food, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies. The latest permitting guidelines, which is applicable till May 3 when lockdown 2.0 ends, has no such classification of essential and non-essential. 

A senior executive from an e-commerce firm shared, "The government's decision has come at a very crucial time. We are already speaking to brands and our merchant partners so that they can start - can go live - with all categories.”

The e-commerce firms continue to face challenges of shortage of workers as most of them have fled their homes. E-commerce logistics company Rapid Delivery informed that they had seen only a 60 per cent of field force return due to a) workers are scared to leave homes b) workers left for their hometowns and villages before the lockdown was enforced. Another e-commerce firm shared they are having difficulty providing even the 20 per cent of the field force required. So, the question of how much of the latest enabling developments could help is in question. 

There is still some confusion for the sellers who don’t sell any essentials, whether they will be allowed to sell in the online marketplace.